Prologue - Miscellaneous Magical Maladies, A-Z
Section H, Hanahaki - Level XXXX
Overview:
Hanahaki is a particularly cruel disease, as seen with a level four out of five rating. The ailment is an incredibly rare result of a long-held (and often unrequited) love for an individual. In the unfortunate case of unrequited love, there is no known medical treatment/s for the sufferer. Due to the near 100 per cent mortality rate, Hanahaki is listed as one of the most ferocious sicknesses. In fact, the one reason it misses the mark of being a level-five rating is because of the possibility of a cure. Little is currently known of the disease, by virtue of its scarcity.
Symptoms:
The tell-tale sign of the Hanahaki disease is the coughing of flowers. The victim will progressively purge more and more flowers in the duration of the illness. It is believed that the flower produced is related to the individual that the sick person adores, and that can be hinted from a similarity of names to something as minute as a favourite floweret.
Hanahaki- if left uncured- will usually last for a span of a week or so, before overcoming the diseased one. However, if the patient was already unwell with a chronic sickness (such as the plague, dragon pox, cancer, lycanthropy, spattergroit, et cetera), the malady may consume the individual in even fewer days.
The stages of Hanahaki begin mild but quickly escalate to severe, as the sick person will initially cough mere petals, but by the end will cough flower bunches and vines. As the illness worsens, the person will feel increasingly weakened, and it may appear as an aggressive flu (coughing, sniffling, sneezing, et cetera). Not much is known as to why these symptoms appear, but hypotheses suggest that the sneezing and coughing is a result of loose pollen from the budding flowers. Further stages of the disease will see the sick person purging blood with the flower petals and stems- possibly a result of abrasions to the internal passages of the witch or wizard- and they will turn a sickly pale, become exceedingly weak, lose their appetite, and have root-and-vine-like veins surface beneath their skin. If at this point, the ill-one does not confess their desire (if requited) or does not seek medical attention, they will be nearing the end of their life. The final stages of the disease involve the victim coughing up full flower bunches and stems, in piles large enough to build around them, and being near- if not already- bed-ridden. Finally, the flowers will grow completely in the person's lungs and will asphyxiate them.
Cure:
There is currently only one known cure for Hanahaki. The ritual-like treatment involves the ill person/s to kiss the one they love- keeping in mind, this cure only has effect if the love if requited- and the flowerets in their lungs with be pulled out by a strong force of magic. They will then cough until all flowers are purged from their body. Once this has taken place, the person will be healed from Hanahaki. The victim may feel woozy afterwards, though this is usually just due to the long-term effect the disease has had on their health.
Read the following section to learn about uses of Hanahaki flowers, both medically and decoratively.